Just getting started

[2 Beauts]

Hi everyone,

We are just doing 2 small raised beds for a garden this year. Actually, they're not even really raised beds, I'm using 2 small baby pools! : ) It's been along time since I gardened, and all I really did was put out a few of tomato plants.

So, with all that being said, I'm ready to get going since the last frost date is past. I'm on the border of zone 6/7. I've already picked up 4 different tomato plants, a watermelon plant, and a cucumber plant. I'd like to try some peas and some broccoli, but I think it might be too late in the season for me to do that now. If it is too late, when should I start them in the fall??

We are not big on squash, or zuchinni (I know that is spelled wrong), so what else should I toss in the pool?

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Probably too late for broccoli and peas. For fall usually about 80-100 days before the first expected frost. I'm thinking about the same for peas.

Are the pools square? I'm curious about how you set them up. How much square footage do you have?

Watermelon and cucumber take up a lot of space. We grow our cucumbers up our corn stalks to save space. Just train the watermelon plants to grow out of the containers.

Depending on how warm your summers get you might be okay with peas. Especially if they're shaded. These also do well in corn.

Corn
Radish
Eggplant
Peppers (sweet and hot)
Melons (also need to trained or trellised)
Beans (bush type)

Good luck

 

[Tutter]

To add to that, how about:

Spinach;

Green onions (scallions), and/or chives, and/or pearl onions;

Small or baby pumpkins (let the vines run out of the pool, plant them at the edge. Set any fruit on coffee cans outside the pool.);

Herbs, such as basil (Especially with the tomatoes.) and parsley;

Small round carrots, as they take less room, and don't need the depth;

Beets;

Radishes.

I also like to throw in a few flowers, just because!

You can increase your space, perhaps, by growing the tomatoes and peppers in large pots, or, even hanging pots, in the case of cherry tomatoes.

Last year I grew some that way, and had abundant fruit. The peppers were anaheims, and produced until Thanksgiving. I think I could have wintered them over, but a cat decided to play in the pot....

Later in the summer you can plant broccoli, collards, kale etc. and transplant them in when the rest are ready to come out.

By early fall, you can try some garlic, too.

Please keep us posted!

 

[2 Beauts]

The pools are the little round ones. They can't be but 4 feet across at best. I planned on putting the watermelon along the edge and letting it drape over.

I had planned on putting all the tomatoes into one pool, but I like the idea of a hanging basket, and I have 3 of those already.

I think I'll give those beets a try, I'd like to try pickling them when they're ready. Plus the basil and the onions...

oh, and i've got a bunch of maigold seeds to mix in with everything.


thanks for everyone's help!

 

[papadekaitlyn]

You didn't mention this before, ...

One thing you want to consider is drainage if you have a pretty good yearly rain fall so it will not drown your plants or flow over and wash them out. A few holes in the bottom of the pool or in the sides very close to the bottom should be ok. (you probably already did that)

The other thing that came to my mind is that plants in the melon family (if family is the right word here) just like plants in the pepper family can cross pollinate. I wouldn't put the cukes and melons in the same pool, and I wouldn't put them very close together either...

Squash and cukes will cross pollinate too. They'll both still grow, but in my hard earned experience, the fruits will end up deformed...

Just some random thoughts on your posts...

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I've read that growing in plastic pools is a very efficient use of gardening space. Have fun!

 

[Texas Fluffy Feet]

A neighbor gave me 2 of those pools and that is what I'm using too! Although not the array you have in yours. One has bush beans and the other has lima beans. Everything else I'm growing went in other containers.

My original thought was to cut the whole bottom out of one and flip it on top of the other like a lid and fasten them together as a sorta "giant pot" to grow potatoes in this fall.

As for making drainage holes, I did mine along the bottom edge like a flower pot and then I set them up on several concrete blocks to allow drainage. Since the plastic is fairly thin you have to toy with the placement of the concrete supports or else once the dirt is in the pool it looks like abig pringle potato chip.

Good luck with your crop!